Picture Perfect
by Daelan
Summary: ((Complete)) Daiken. "But it wasn't perfect."


A/N: I started writing his, then abandoned it to watch i2u. Then I came back, and was in a different frame of mind, so couldn't continue it  
like I'd started. I tried to, but I think you'll see a slight change in style somewhere in the story. Sorry if there are any mistakes - I didn't   
have time to proof-read it. *Daiken*  
  
Key: *words would be in italics if I could get html to work for me, but since I can't...*  
//thoughts//  
"spoken out loud"  
  
Legal disclaimer: Digimon ain't mine. Otherwise, this really would have happened, Daisuke really would be dating Ken, and Taichi would  
be dating Yamato. *smirks*  
  
Picture Perfect  
  
The pencil flew across the paper in swift movements. A line, a touch of shading, and Ken looked up at him, his face paper-  
white. Anyone would have said the picture looked perfect. In fact, Hikari did say it, leaning over the table to peek at what Daisuke had  
been so intent on. He smiled wanly and thanked her.  
  
But it wasn't perfect.  
  
Something was wrong with it. Daisuke studied the picture intently, but couldn't for the life of him figure out what it was. The  
eyes, maybe? No... they looked right. The mouth? He erased it and redrew it, but the picture still looked wrong. Daisuke sighed and  
flipped the page over.  
  
Okay, Hikari. He thought about her as he drew. He used to have such a huge crush on her, but that had soon died down.  
They were just friends now, albeit very good ones, and she was dating Miyako. Now, that was something he hadn't seen coming.  
Takeru was dating Iori, but they kept it under wraps - Iori's parents wouldn't approve. That left Daisuke and Ken unpaired, although  
Ken may not remain that way for much longer. He had seen the way Ken looked at Yamato occassionaly...  
  
Hikari had tried to find him girls before, setting him up on blind dates with some of her friends. Most of her friends were now  
afraid to approach Daisuke. His insanity had been pretty effective in driving them off. He'd shared some of his experiences with Ken -   
especially that girl whose jacket somehow got itching powder all over it. Daisuke had looked about as innocent as the devil himself, while  
recounting that little misfortune.  
  
He realised suddenly that he had finished the drawing of Hikari. Now, that really was perfect. It was as if it was the real  
Hikari who was winking at him from the pages of his sketchbook. He tore off the page and gave it to Miyako, laughing at the huge  
blush that spread across her face. Hikari looked at the drawing and turned red, too.  
  
"Could you draw me one of Iori-chan, Daisuke?" asked Takeru, smiling.  
  
Daisuke nodded, his mind already turning to Iori. Now, there was a kid who needed to learn how to laugh. What pose to  
get him in? Ah, that was an easy one - kendo class. Prune juice? Daisuke hid a grin. Nah. Takeru had once been subjected to Iori's  
grandfather's prune juice fetish, when visiting him at kendo class. When he had returned, Takeru had simply moaned and dropped into  
a quivering heap on the floor. It wasn't something Daisuke thought Takeru would like to see in a picture of Iori.  
  
Nonetheless, Iori was a cool kid. Smart, too. He did hold the Crest of Knowledge, after all. Somewhat sporty - he  
sometimes indulged in a game of soccer with Daisuke, Ken and Takeru, and he had regular kendo classes. So... Daisuke blinked, seeing  
Iori's completed picture on the paper. The kid was lunging forward, the kendo stick seemingly lunging out of the paper at him. Daisuke  
wasn't sure if Takeru would like such a... violent... picture, but tore it off and handed it to him anyway. The huge smile that spread across  
Takeru's face was answer enough. Takeru liked it. Before she could ask, Daisuke had already sketched in a picture of Miyako - that  
was easy enough for him, he was positive about his relationship with her - and given it to Hikari. She grinned at him.  
  
"You're a really good artist, Daisuke!" Miyako said, starry-eyed as she gazed at her picture of Hikari. A faint blush spread  
across his face.  
  
"I'd be better if I could figure out how to draw Ken," he said gloomily. "I must've drawn him hundreds of times, and he still  
doesn't look right."  
  
"Really?" Hikari asked him, a frown on her face. "But what about that picture you just drew?" She leaned over and snatched  
the sketchbook out of his hands. Daisuke promptly turned bright red. "Hey, give that back!" He made a wild grab for it. Takeru held him  
back, laughing.  
  
"Just what is it you don't want us to see, champ?" he joked. Daisuke's face was fairly glowing. "N-nothing!"  
  
Takeru just looked at him. "Now I'm curious. What's in it, Hikari?" The children ignored Daisuke's strangled gasp, as they  
all bent over the book.  
  
"No privacy for artists," Daisuke moaned, acknowledging the fact that he would never get the book back till they were done  
with it. He buried his face in his hands, refusing to look up as his friends broke into surprised murmurs.  
  
Ken, holding his Kaizer cape. Ken, slipping a scarf around his shoulders. Ken, kneeling beside a river. Ken, dressed in a  
suit, and looking damn sexy. Ken, just looking up, his eyes soft.  
  
"Wow. You sure are obssessed with Ken, aren't you, Dai?" Hikari said weakly, as she flipped through the rest of the book.  
Most of the pictures in it were of Ken. Daisuke wondered what they'd say if they knew he had twelve sketchbooks at home, all entirely  
devoted to Ken. He'd kept just two for the rest of the Chosen Children and their digimons.  
  
"Daisuke?" Takeru prodded him experimentally. "Um, Daisuke? Are you okay?"  
  
Daisuke uncoiled from his helpless posture suddenly, striking out to grab the sketchbook back. He slumped back in his  
chair, sticking his tongue out at Hikari. Juvenile, but maybe it would get their minds off the book.  
  
No such luck, apparently.  
  
"Oi! Daisuke!" It was Miyako this time, poking him in the ribs. He winced and held up his hands in surrender.  
  
"Just can't seem to get him right," he said despondently. Takeru frowned. "But there were so many pictures of him! And he  
seemed fine in every one. What's wrong?"  
  
Daisuke smiled tiredly at him. "You're not an artist," he joked. "But look-" he flipped the book open to a picture of Ken  
holding Wormmon. "Isn't there something weird about this pic?"  
  
Takeru scrutinized it intently, but finally gave up, leaning back in his chair. "Nope. Seems okay to me."  
  
"Well, it just seems like there's something missing." Daisuke frowned at the picture, then closed the book. "But I just can't  
figure out what the problem is."  
  
"Well, maybe it's how you draw him?" Hikari said naively. Miyako laughed. "'Course, Hikari-chan! That's precisely the  
problem - now, how to fix it?" Hikari blushed - leave it to the Child of Light to state the obvious.  
  
Daisuke, however, was frowning in concentration. "Hold that thought," he said absently. "How *do* I draw?"  
  
Takeru looked at him strangely. "With a pencil?"  
  
Daisuke waved him off. "Iie. That wasn't what I was talking about." He turned to a fresh page. "I think about the person I'm  
drawing... Hikari's a wonderful friend, kind, patient, forgiving..." A small doodle of Hikari appeared in the top right-hand corner of the  
page. "And Miyako's outspoken. She treats me like I don't have a brain half the time, but that's fine with me 'cos that half of the time, I'm  
acting like I *don't* have one. She'll back me up if she knows I'm right, but she won't hesitate to put me down if she thinks I'm wrong."  
  
Miyako's head had taken shape in the lower right corner of the page. Hikari, Miyako and Takeru exchanged bemused  
looks as Daisuke continued talking and drawing, seemingly not even looking at the paper.  
  
"And Takeru... used to hate him, but now I couldn't ask for a better friend. He's always there when you need him, and he  
always seems to know the right thing to say to make you feel better. Iori, now. Serious kid, needs to learn to laugh. We know that's  
possible, he's done it before. He's very practical, and I don't think he'd ever jump into anything impulsively. Good for restraining  
someone like me." Daisuke laughed wryly as pictures of Takeru and Iori appeared under his pencil. The other three were looking a little  
freaked-out. Daisuke was talking as if he was possessed. He seemed to come to himself as he looked down at the paper.  
  
"Oh. I'm done." He seemed surprised to see four faces looking up at him. He lifted his head, suddenly aware of the three  
*real* faces peering at him curiously. "What?"  
  
"You were talking. And it was we~ird," Miyako proclaimed. "Strangely accurate, though."  
  
"Is that how you think when you draw?" Takeru asked. A small blush colored Daisuke's face as he nodded.  
  
"And the pictures always turn out right."  
  
Hikari brightened. "Well then, how do you feel about Ken? Think about that as you draw!"  
  
Daisuke simply sighed and shook his head. "I'm not sure *how* I feel about him."  
  
"AAIIEEEE!"  
  
Daisuke jumped up at Miyako's horrified screech. A red-faced boy was sprawled on the floor, the contents of his tray  
sliding ungraciously down Miyako's back. She jumped out of her seat, prepared to give the boy a tongue lashing. Hikari grabbed her  
arm and spun her around to face the girl's room, then pushed her towards it. She threw an apologetic glance over her shoulder as she  
steered Miyako away from the poor innocent boy. The boy, for his part, picked himself up and cleaned up the mess he had made -   
surprisingly little. After all, most of it was on Miyako. Daisuke stifled a laugh.  
  
"O~kay." Takeru turned back to Daisuke. "Now that the girls are out of the way-" Daisuke stared at him, comprehension  
dawning on his face. "You tripped him!"  
  
Takeru assumed a how-could-you-ever-think-I-would-do-something-bad face. "Me?" he asked innocently. His face grew  
serious again. "Seriously, though. I could see you weren't comfortable talking in front of the girls, so I did the only thing I could do at the  
moment to get them out of the way."  
  
Daisuke couldn't help but smile. "Thanks, Takeru. You're right - I didn't want to talk in front of them."  
  
"So what is the deal between you and Ken?" Takeru prodded.  
  
"Well, you know we're best friends," Daisuke started. Takeru nodded. "I think I love him."  
  
Takeru blinked. He hadn't been expecting that.  
  
"Thing is," Daisuke added, "I don't think he's even thought of me that way before. I think he likes someone else."  
  
"Who?" Takeru asked.  
  
Daisuke snorted inelegantly. "You'd kill me if I told you. No, you'd kill Ken."  
  
"Just the right thing to say to pique my interest. Who is it?" Takeru took a big bite out of his sandwich.  
  
Daisuke sighed. "Yamato."  
  
Takeru choked.  
  
"O-Onii-chan?!" he asked incredulously. Daisuke nodded in confirmation. "Either that, or he absolutely adores his music.  
He's got a poster of him in his room."  
  
"Any other pictures?" Takeru asked, still trying to get used to the idea that someone might be in love with his older brother.  
  
"Er, yeah. One of the whole group together, and one of him and me." Takeru smiled suddenly.  
  
"And was the poster a promotional one? Of the Teenage Wolves?" he asked, cerulean eyes glinting.  
  
"Hai?" It came out more as a question, as Daisuke looked at Takeru uncertainly. The blonde-haired boy burst out laughing.  
  
"You doofus! I don't think Ken likes Yamato - well, not that way. Yamato gave *all* of us those promotional posters,  
remember?" He paused and smiled at Daisuke. "I don't think you got one - that was the week when you were really sick. I bet Ken was  
over practically every day, wasn't he?"  
  
"Well... yes," Daisuke confessed. "Okaa-san was worried he'd catch my fever, but he came over every day anyway."  
  
Takeru was smiling broadly now. "Well, there you have it! And why else would he put a picture of the two of you on his  
bedroom wall?"  
  
Daisuke was suddenly *very* interested in something on the floor. Takeru pushed his chin up forcefully, grinning like a  
maniac. The grin froze on his face, then vanished as he looked into Daisuke's eyes.  
  
"Wow," he breathed out. "You really *do* love him, don't you?" Daisuke nodded mutely.  
  
"I rather think Ken has a crush on you, Dai-kun," Takeru said seriously. He tilted his head to the side, studying Daisuke   
carefully. "Why don't you try drawing Ken now? Think of him as your lover."  
  
Although his face still hadn't lost its bright red color, Daisuke dutifully picked up his pencil. It hovered over the paper for a  
moment, then started moving quickly, decisively.  
  
//Ken-chan,// Daisuke thought as he drew. //You're my best friend, Ken. I don't think I could get over it if I ever lost you. I  
want to be with you. Do you know how often I've dreamt about you? Even back when you were the Kaizer, I'd always been attracted  
to you. I think I'd die if you ever left me. I just want to know, Ken - do you feel the same way? Every day in school, I can't wait till I get  
out, just so I can visit you. Or have you come over. You realise, we sleep over at each other's houses practically every day? 'kaa-san  
doesn't even bother contradicting me when I say you're coming over. She just accepts it - she thinks of you as her son. But Ken - I don't  
want us to be like brothers. I want us to be lovers. I love you, Ken-chan, but I don't know if you feel the same way about me. Takeru  
seems to think you do. And I *know* I'll burst if I try and keep it inside any longer. So - to hell with caution. I'll tell you tonight, Ken.  
You're supposed to come over to my house tonight, and I'll tell you. I love you, Ken-chan.//  
  
Daisuke gently ran a finger over the finished portrait. Daisuke was leaning against Ken, and Ken had an arm around his  
shoulder. Both boys looked absolutely content.  
  
It was perfect.  
  
~owari 


End file.
